Don’t Search For A Home, Search For Yourself

Don’t Search For A Home, Search For Yourself

Osho,
In these times of uncertainty, the best – and the worst – seems to be coming out in those of us who are around you. Would you comment on this?

There are no “times of uncertainty” because time is always uncertain. It is the difficulty with the mind: mind wants certainty – and time is always uncertain.

So when just by coincidence mind finds a small space of certainty, it feels settled: a kind of illusory permanence surrounds it. It tends to forget the real nature of existence and life, it starts living in a kind of dream world; it starts mistaking appearance for reality. It feels good to the mind because mind is always afraid of change for the simple reason: who knows what change will bring – good or bad? One thing is certain, that change will unsettle your world of illusions, expectations, dreams.

Mind is just like a child playing on the seashore, making palaces in the sand. For a moment it seems that the palace is ready – but it is made of shifting sands. Any moment just a small breeze, and it will be shattered to pieces. But we start living in that dream palace. We start feeling that we have found something which is going to remain with us always.

But time continuously goes on disturbing the mind. It looks hard but it is really very compassionate of existence to always remain with you. It does not allow you to make realities out of appearances. It does not give you a chance to accept masks as your real face, your original face.

So whenever time strikes one of your cherished illusions, it feels that it brings out the worst and the best in people’s lives. It simply brings out what was hidden behind the false permanence, behind a dream that you had taken for granted to be real. It simply takes away your mask. It has nothing to do with good or bad, better or worse – it simply takes away your mask. It simply exposes you, it brings you to face yourself, so whatever you have been repressing starts surfacing. It can be the worst, it can be the best.

Time has nothing to do with these categories. It simply allows your repressed to surface, it brings you to yourself.

Most of the people are hiding the worst. It is very rare to find a person who is hiding the best – why should he hide the best? People are even pretending to show themselves in the best of colors – why should they hide the best? People simply hide the worst, thinking that it is ugly.

A change – and your mask slips. A change – and you are for a moment suddenly you find yourself naked. You have lost your clothes and the whole reality becomes a mirror: from everywhere your nudity, your nakedness is reflected.

Excerpted From Light On The Path CH: 8